Why GAMEDEV YouTube is DYING (And What We Can Do About It)

[@theunityguy_yt]

I just released a new devlog about enemy creation here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sJmXfIGNfKqJjck&ab_channel=TheUnityGuy

[@jeusmarcomascarina4102]

The problem is when we get idea, a mass people will just copy and audience will be seek of it.

[@theunityguy_yt]

@@jeusmarcomascarina4102 That's very true. A lot of devs with great games may stay off youtube as they don't want clones to steal their game.

[@nohost_dev]

Good video! I definitely relate to the struggle of balancing game dev with creating videos and trying to find an engaging format for what is usually pretty linear progress. I think the audience for technical content is out there too though. Acerola is a good example of a creator who makes pretty technical videos that are still entertaining and get hundreds of thousands of views. Presentation goes a long way.

[@theunityguy_yt]

Wow! Acerola's videos are really fun to watch (I just watched a couple). I think my video more so applies to devlogs since you generally want to promote your game to gamers but great point. Presentation really changes the playing field :D

[@DawnBriarDev]

The problem is that presentation bypasses what is being presented.

[@theunityguy_yt]

@@DawnBriarDev true - scripting and being able to tell a story are really helpful in making good videos

[@DawnBriarDev]

@theunityguy7265 you misunderstand. Case 1: You showcase an unplayable game that barely loads up and has tons of errors that would prevent it from even compiling into a standalone application. But it has music you lack the licenses to, animations from a pack you aren't able to expand yourself, and shaders you may possibly actually use if you ever learned to develop a game. Case 2: You have a fully functioning game, but wish to protect the intellectual property, so you discuss it without showcasing any of it directly. You approach it with the mindset of education and teaching how you reinvented some wheels. Which case are people going to interact with more? Case 1. Edit: Look no further than the multitude of pre-rendered gameplay trailers that people then backtrack and complain about after looking into the game exclusively because the trailers caught their attention.

[@DawnBriarDev]

@@theunityguy_yt And I'm not just being pessimistic: I was guilty of this myself. My first devlog was me showcasing my game as I began learning, years ago. It showcased a weather system that was a technical mess, an animation system I scrapped the moment I learned how to animate, etc. That video got over 20k views in 3 days. Nowadays, I have an actual playable, functioning game with meaningful innovations that I playtest on dedicated servers. But because the value of wat I'm making exceeded the value of potential gains from advertising it directly, I have long since stopped sharing videos about the game itself, and for a while shifted to purely education focused discussions: Trying to bridge the gap for developers who started where I had, and wanted to get where I was. If I so much as accidentally slipped 10 seconds of the game in, the viewcounts multiplied by 10. But people simply are not interested in learning about game development itself, or at least, the number who are is extremely small unless you spend as much time editing the video as you did making the update you're discussing. I eventually just got tired of it and deleted all my videos. I'll post trailers and do the usual self promotion when I feel like I'm ready for that stage again (when I'm far enough in production that risking the IP becomes less of an issue.)

[@rodmileski]

Most of youtube viewers are not actually gamedevs. 99% of the audience/community will never release a game. Most of "big" channels are targeted to addict people in watching the same yet different tutorial over and over (this is true not only for gamedev but almost anything in "how to" youtube). If a topic goes well in a channel, most likely will be replicated 100x over other channels (300 videos how to create a toon shader vs. 3 videos explaining what a dot product is [not only giving hlsl code or graph]). The 99%'s don't care about the technical reasoning, they just want a plug and play line of code to solve a yet another barrier they found in the "never to be released game idea" they currently have. The 1%'s will absorb and extrapolate the idea further to create their own systems/games and maybe (big maybe) release a game. Forget about releasing a game while trying to put a 10 min tutorial/vlog/video every Monday. KZbin algorithm does not help either, for example, as I type this comment there are many suggestions on the right side click baiting with titles like: " how i made 100k with my first game" " how to be a successful indie developer" yada yada yada. Is hard to find good content and fight with youtube algorithm when "code optimization" or "coding best practices" or "G-buffer" is not trending.

[@theunityguy_yt]

Yea, I totally understand. I think my video was from the perspective of a dev who releases devlogs of a game they want to release, and so they would naturally want to promote their game to gamers, not just devs. A large aspect of this is just how difficult it is to grow a channel in such a niched genre, and so this video was just a way I could give some tips to help in this regard; mainly to try and target a wider audience in your niched content.

[@lukajolich7669]

I know this is months old, but the KZbin algorithm for game development videos is just so bad now. Even when I try to search certain genres like "strategy" or very broad like "sci-fi" I either don't get any game development related videos, or the videos aren't about the genre. It's frustrating because I know it used to be better as I would just find random indie game dev videos to play as inspiration while I worked on my own games, but now even if such videos are made, they're hidden under everything else.

[@theunityguy_yt]

@@lukajolich7669 yea, it's very sad, but the algorithm doesn't care so much about niched genres and mainly pushes out content that a large majority of people like :(

[@culan_SCP]

Who tf cares about optimisation if theres no good fps controller or gun mechanics tutorials

[@CreepyCurlew]

I’m trying my best to become a popular youtuber

[@blackdoc6320]

Another thing is there are a lot of game dev youtubers who consistently post really crushing things that completely destroy any motivation for making games and posting them on youtube. Unless of course you go and buy their course which shows you how to do it correctly.

[@tre107]

It's kind of a misery circlejerk to be honest and at times it can really be an issue when looking for motivation myself.

[@TheWizardsOfOz]

PirateSoftware is thriving, GameDev KZbin isn't doing as bad as it would seem.

[@TrueREAL]

dani is also coming back and pontypants is releasing another game

[@RockyMulletGamedev]

The real problem is how youtube works, specially how often youtube expect you to upload. It's just impossible to make something like "weekly devlogs" without being close to 0 content. What are you going to achieve in a single week ? And you are making and editing a video that week too ? What are you going to achieve in a week minus the time it will take to make a video ? You'll have nothing to talk about so, you'll end up making bad videos. I feel the ones that are still succeeding are the ones who just chat, people like Code Monkey or Lost Relic Games, their videos are generally not about their own games or blacktornprod who goes for more "challenges" and youtube focused content, often not even made by them with their "X devs make a game without communicating", like those things are nice to watch, but... that's youtube content, that's not gamedev. The sad thing about youtube gamedev is that you need to chose between gamedev and youtube. Personally I chose gamedev, but it means I need to accept that in the 2-3 months between my devlogs, the YT algorythm will hate me and punish me for not uploading enough. But... I need to make a game to talk about it ! Why even do it then ? Well youtube still gives me accountability. Would be way too easy to give up a project nobody knows about. KZbin makes me set deadlines, set objectives and goal to achieve and even tho my viewers base is small, more than 0 people caring is a huge boost for motivation, cause when NOBODY cares, not a single soul, it feels like you are wasting your time.

[@theunityguy_yt]

true yea. I've done a bit of research on the algorithm, and some of the biggest factors include watch time, click through rate and upload schedule. As a dev, if you make technical content, only a small portion of youtube will be interested, damaging your watch time and click through rate. Having a good upload schedule is even more difficult. My solution to this, is to release a mixture of devlogs and other videos. For example, every second upload might be a devlog while the other ones could be videos like this one. Still, as devs, it's very difficult to do well on youtube which just adds difficulty to the already tough lives of many indie gamedevs.

[@RockyMulletGamedev]

@@theunityguy_yt I've been trying that but been mostly unsuccessful with it. My channel is mostly devlogs, I got a big boost from a yearly recap video where I took the time to really think about pacing and making an interesting video, where I talk maximum 1.5 min about each my games. It made for a good interesting video with a lot of quick content, it quadrupled my subs in a week and kept my channel alive for the past 9 months. But I can't be making recap videos all the time XD. So far all my "non devlog" videos have been doing meh, except maybe one where it's more of an announcement of a devlog. I have 2 videos from being a judge in a gamejam, so it's a "best of" from the jam, so doesnt require a lot of time other than making the video and judging the jam. I also made a more informative video about videogame localization and while I liked the subject, I don't think people care much about that. I jumped on the unity drama and that video did well for like 3 days, it helps to reset the clock, but I'm still worried the impact of making "lesser videos". That being said, that video of yours was entertaining for sure.

[@assemblyrtsdev]

I like writing weekly devlogs on IndieDB, maybe give it a try! It doesn't take so much time and it's great for reflecting on your own work. I'm only gonna make a new devlog on KZbin once I've got something to show that is interesting to non-game developers. I don't think it can work well for marketing otherwise.

[@SoulEngineDev]

This is so true. Its so hard to find that balance, and its hard to even believe that its possible.

[@Reditect]

@@theunityguy_yt I like that solution more than the one in the video itself. I'd hate to go in the direction of tiktok style rapid content. Rather, I could cover different things relevant to me. On top of devlogs, there could be tutorials, discussions, streams, playing other people's games, etc. I have a background in engineering, I could do something with that. As an aside, I don't think people should try to be like dani. Dani is dani, you are not. Be yourself. It's 'you' tube after all. But then again, who am I to give that advice? My content, like most, is scripted and has retakes in audio. The youtube me is a caricature, not the real me entirely. Some think you need to push out a video frequently, but I say work-life balance is more important. Daily uploads is not sustainable. I'd say every two weeks, but really once a month is good IMO. Random, but yeah.

[@Wishbone_Games]

Really enjoyed this video and i gotta agree for the most part. But i think there could be some up and coming channels that havent gotten their "big break" yet which could bring more life to the genre. It was really cool to see my video show up in the first few seconds, it made me feel like a real youtuber. I think the strategy first of all is to be an entertainer, like dani, like sam hogan, barji, devbanana, polymars etc. But more importantly to have your own personality, and not just copy someone else because ive been seeing a lot of small content creators clearly just trying to use danis formula without and innovation or putting an spin on it. Honestly though i think this niche will get big again, and i think even bigger

[@theunityguy_yt]

Yea true. For the next stage of gamedev youtube, innovation in the genre will probably be the biggest determining factor in it's success!

[@gameloperr]

facts.

[@Inner-Chaos]

I 100% agree with your take! I also realized how hard it is to make entertaining devlogs while also developing a game. That's why I am now more dedicated to improving my writting/editing and creating more entertaining videos. Let's do our best to revive this genre!

[@theunityguy_yt]

Awesome! I'm super happy to hear that :D I've spent months working on my scripts and I still have a lot to learn. Best of luck ^^

[@Entikai]

One interesting thing I've noticed is that the GameDev community is split by engines. Unity, Godot, Unreal and everything else is a enclosed game dev category. These devs rarely comment on videos from outside of their engine of choice. They almost never talk about each other in the videos. If they highlight games and game developers on their channel, it will be the ones that use the same engine as them.

[@theunityguy_yt]

lol yea - I must say that I do enjoy watching unreal devlogs tho.

[@RockyMulletGamedev]

I make 2D games in Unreal Engine, which... very few other people do. I did try to play that card in the beginning, but I realize that it would work mostly with "search" and not much from direct recommendation. Now I try to stay away from "engine specific" content, I try to talk more about my reasoning "gamedesignwise" instead of technically how I do it. If I ever mention Unreal it's more in a self deprecating way "lol I'm so crazy for making 2D games in Unreal" cause I want everybody to be able to enjoy my content and that they don't feel like it's not content for them. I feel that way about a lot of gamedev youtubers, a lot of them uses Unity, so they will often have a cool devlog followed by like 10 tutorials about how to do something specific in Unity, this generally means I wont subscribe to them, cause I care about 10% of their content and non gamedevs might be interested by a non technical devlog, but they definitly don't care about tutorials.

[@theunityguy_yt]

@@RockyMulletGamedev great point. That's something I could definitely use in my videos. Being less engine oriented and focusing more on game design and features is definitely something I could use :D

[@_xtel]

I watch all different types of devlogs, and think how to recreate in the engine I’m currently using. It really helps to see HOW someone solved a problem and just translate my own way.

[@Red_Eagle]

I'm a godot dev, and can say this is not true. Most the game devs i follow use unity...

[@rentetier]

I totally agree. I also saw this happen. The big KZbin channels were not really making games, just small prototypes to please the audiences. Once they tried to make a big game like Dani with his parcour game they either run out of interesting content, or don’t get anything done because they have to do side projects. It’s almost like game dev KZbin and actually making a game is in contradiction to each other.

[@theunityguy_yt]

yea, really tough for devs who've spent countless hours on their channels and haven't grown 😥

[@gameloperr]

Being an indie dev who has decided to do KZbin seriously, I actually thought about this issue. My perspective was different thought, Towards the end you mentioned 'bad devlogs' I'd like to expand on that point & say that while making videos & editing & making good content on top of developing a commercial project takes time to learn & it is absolutely fine to make videos about your progress even if its a small community that you end up forming. Now, coming to KZbin as a game dev there are a number of directions that you can take. You can make devlogs which are mostly focused around your games, you can make educational videos like tutorials e.g brackeys, you can make entertaining videos like dani, sam hogan, fat dino etc. So with devlogs & educational content your growth is gonna be slow & your audience isn't exactly going to be too far outside of other game devs. (exception of two star studios - dev of 'cho cho charles' ) With entertaining videos though that isn't really the case, You can reach a wider range of audience. I aim to be in the 'entertaining' category of game dev youtubers & IMO the biggest problem we have here is the lack of creativity & uniqueness. That would be my reason why game dev youtube has slowed down. I see the same type of videos/content. There isn't really 'fresh' content now I don't mean to say like completely new but it's just similar style/copying (when dani became popular there were so many channels trying to make literally same type of videos) what's working to please KZbin which is understandable to some extend but then again game dev is a field of creativity & not seeing that creativity now just makes me sad

[@Lifeport-z]

Dani said he was coming back but we will not know till we get that final comfirmation. The notification in our bell.

[@nostalgianinja]

Personally, gamedev youtube isn't dead, it's more in an ebb-state of its cycle as it recently suffered from Unity's decisions. Game developers *aren't leaving,* moreover they're either learning different game engines or sunsetting their current Unity games, or sticking with Unity. This is an exciting time to be someone who watches gamedev videos, as it's an opportunity for gamedev youtubers to figure out the formula that works best for their audience. This opens the opportunity for the other game engines to improve and grow, diversifying the community and opening people's minds when it comes to providing different content that suits a wider audience. So no, Gamedev KZbin isn't dying, it's just waiting for the next opportunity to reach its flow-state.

[@theunityguy_yt]

yea - dying probably wasn't the right word

[@joewantsabrew]

Awesome video! As game developers i feel we should have a healthy mix of technical and educational videos, and more entertainment ones that appeal to the masses. It definitely seems that we are currently lacking a bit in the former. Aswell as this , i think alot of new devs are lacking experience in making thumbnails and titles and other CTR doohickies. I myself probably wont make a dent breaking the trend and putting gamedev back into the mainstream, but i'll try!

[@GilbertGames]

Honestly I see this as a challenge to innovate. My new devlogs will not be the same. Just hoping a month or 2 of editing doesn’t go down the toilet.

[@theunityguy_yt]

Yea, great point. I already loved your previous devlogs to be honest :)

[@ThunderWorldInteractive]

This is a great video, as a struggling Indie dev on youtube this was very informative, I definitely make boring videos and now I'm gonna try and make a good one.Thank you!

[@theunityguy_yt]

No problem! Happy it helped. I answered another comment with some tips so i'll add them here in case they help :D 1. Don't be technical In your videos, leave the code and technical aspects of development behind. You can talk about them, but try not to make them the focus. 2. The more visual the better Visuals are the easiest and most efficient things to talk about in devlogs whether that's talking about models, post-processing, texturing, level design, game design etc. I would also recommend making your videos visual as well. 3. Don't dwell on topics for too long Some things in gamedev take a long time. For example, it my take me a long time to model something for my game. That doesn't mean that you spend equally as long talking about it in a devlog. You should probably just say a sentence or two. On the contrary, you might want to say a couple paragraphs about something much simpler. The amount of time you spent on something in developement doesn't correlate to the amount of screen-time it gets in devlogs. 4. Script-writing The most important things is presentation. Make sure to have a concise and fun script to record. Your script shouldn't be slow and boring and should instead be fast-paced and clear.

[@hogandromgool2062]

I'm going to have to start my gamedev channel rather soon to start promoting my game. I've looked into this problem myself and the issue is upload quantity. Look at the popular game dev channels, they have side content they upload as well as the update videos. I think this is really the main issue is Game dev creators see their channel as an entertainment source when it really isn't, it's an advertisement, people will watch it to see what's going on once or twice a year but they aren't there for entertainment, they're here for quick info and to check up if the game is still something they're interested in.

[@theunityguy_yt]

Yea true. I've actually started to do this. Every second upload is a devlog and the videos in between are fun dev videos like this one. It keeps my upload schedule a lot better.

[@hogandromgool2062]

@@theunityguy_yt Very good, Required for growth. Takes a bit of time away from development but I think in the long run if you can keep the content more regular and maybe even more varied you'd probably find you end up with more people sticking around on sale day. Wish you the best of luck. My game is about 4 years in, 3 or so to go so I get the struggle and everything that comes with it.

[@66ivqn]

Nice video man! I appreciate your take on this situation as many KZbinrs who used to do game development on KZbin no longer post videos. Josh gong says you owe him curry

[@theunityguy_yt]

lol yea - it'll be his birthday present

[@rvkdd]

How is bro awake

[@Retrobro11]

incredible video! i sometimes make "games" and watching those videos got me to start using programs. keep up the great work

[@theunityguy_yt]

Great to hear! Thanks so much :D

[@Retrofuge]

Honestly, I’m surprised this was a space to begin with not to undermine it. But game dev is a process a lot of time, I do find the idea of it pretty meaningless unless you’re in it for the tutorials. Devlogs are great but I think it only works if you’re making a game people are interested in. A lot of the time, people only have channels to promote their indie game and nothing more. It’s just a form of marketing. It’s not dying, it’s just these guys have made the bag and left. Expecting uploads from them unless they make tutorials and game engine updates is pretty odd expectation. Since I feel like people miss the point of why they exist. Also there’s the fact, most ‘game dev’ content is very generic. There’s so many motivational videos or tutorials you can make. I always viewed the likes of Thomas Brush, Tim Ruswick, GDQuest and others as stepping stones for your own game dev journey, not content creators. If you’re watching them for constant uploads in your feed. I think you missed the point of their channels begin with. Also most people who watch these videos aren’t actually proper game devs. Most of them who are working on a game just wouldn’t have the time to watch videos daily when they could be making their dream game. That’s my two cents on the matter. It’s not dying, it never really existed and it ran its course. They gave us the tools, now we need to figure out how to go from there.

[@YoUniverseWasTaken]

This video was inspiring to me as a game dev youtuber with like 50 subs, I really get what you said about us getting lost in technical analysis of code instead for making something thats enjoyable for the non-devloper. lets hope some of us small youtubers can turn the tables around for game dev youtube since the big youtubers (dani and all) are not there.

[@theunityguy_yt]

I'm so happy the video was relatable 😊Best of luck with your channel too. my best advice is to just keep uploading, and constantly improve each one. I've often felt like giving up, but as it turns out, i've only been a few videos away from blowing up. i'd also recommend watching some video to really learn the algorithm - i've watched a few and i'd suggest looking at improving thumbails (I use canva), really clickable titles and keeping viewers watching your videos (just have to learn to edit really well - took my months). hope this helps and best of luck!

[@YoUniverseWasTaken]

Dude I was literally watching thumbnail and algorithm videos when u replied! tysm for your advice! You are really quite an inspiration!@@theunityguy_yt

[@breakfastboii]

I feel like it’s gonna slowly revive over time, whether it be from one of the top KZbinrs returning back, or from a new channel rising up to the top (especially so since people are looking for other sources for game dev content beyond the big KZbinrs)

[@theunityguy_yt]

yep hopefully :)

[@ouvio]

I think you hit the nail on the head with technical devlogs. On one end there are a small number of people really into it, such as myself, in order to learn and grow, but let's face it... watching someone make a mechanic and then wat ha ragdoll spas out on screen is far more enjoyable. I think saying that it is dying is maybe a bit over the top, because with some big names gone it creates the space for others to step into those shoes or spots, but yeah... it's hard to keep a regular schedule because you never know how much content you'll actually have to share with people.

[@theunityguy_yt]

yea - "dying" was a bit unnecessary was just dipping my toes in clickbait honestly 😅

[@lenargilmanov7893]

If the largest gamedev youtubers are gone, that means that the niche is empty. Go get 'em, tiger!

[@ScoutOW2]

I love devs like Raymond Cripps, Danni, Robert Thomson and Mix and Jam! Because theyre just having fun, super entertaining and explain their content in a way general audiences, regardless of what engines they know if any, can follow along and just have fun. 95% are just randoms who have never used a game engine and just find the idea of game dev interesting, and the other 5% watch every game dev video because they are one themselves. So of course the thousandth video titled "i made $200k in just 1 month" is for the 5% whos seen the same shtik so many times its just ignored. Not to mention theres sooo many devs out there now just making devlogs. Theres nothing new that we havent seen 10 times already. So aslong as youre making very entertaining content that literally anyone, even some 6 year old could follow along and enjoy, with your own style of comedy, i think youd stand out enough to become one of those that dont really decline in that much viewers. Aaaand after i typed this and you basically covered that aswell xD

[@theunityguy_yt]

yea no problem :D great point ^^

[@reaver_gg]

As a GameDev beginner, this is very sad to hear ! Thanks for the video, I really enjoyed the video though 💔

[@theunityguy_yt]

No problem! I really hope the industry reaches popularity again sometime in the future :D

[@VistaLargaGames]

Devlogs are every time consuming. Especially if you have a demanding full time job. As a solo dev with 5 devlogs so far I also do animation. Video editing. Sound and music. Coding/ programming and then marketing it on KZbin and Twitter ig rumble and tik tok. It’s crazy bro

[@theunityguy_yt]

Yea quite a nightmare. It's a really tricky genre to succeed in.

[@edumichelondev]

I'm struggling with this KZbin thing, just started about a month ago and trying to figure out this entertaining way of show things. Cause it's like you say in the video, the development is quite technical and that sucks lol. But I guess it's up for a "new generation" of creators that we could be a part of, we just gotta figure our way 🙌🙌

[@theunityguy_yt]

yep. A big part of making a good youtube video is being able to tell an interesting story out of it. I've been learning every video, and constantly trying to improve them. Some videos don't do well as I'm currently experimenting with different styles ;D

[@TJAidoo14]

I'm a consumer (and insights person) and have been watching a few devlogs. I think in my opinion a good one is just a story. Set up the scene, problem and fixing it. Mostly around gameplay issues would capture most people, as consumers are generally interested in how things get made. Even if there's a bit of a coding solution to it, showing essentially your working out and results can make a great video

[@theunityguy_yt]

so true! A good balance, story and pace to a devlog can completley change its reception

[@Onyxabc]

You know, something good about game dev youtube is the longegevity of the videos though. I cannot speak for others, but often times I stumble uppon 1 or 2 year old devlogs. These devlogs dont chase a random trend and are at least in my eyes timeless. I can very well imagine, that some current devlogs might be watched in 10 years from now.

[@theunityguy_yt]

Honestly that's become super relatable for me as well! Like sometimes I'm just randomly looking at my recommended and I come across like 7 year old gems which is honestly really cool.

[@DevinBidwell]

Not gonna mention that sebastian lague has some very technical videos that hit huge margins and are always entertaining to watch? ;)

[@theunityguy_yt]

It's a balance - I'm just saying we have more of one than the other. I think I was also talking from the perspective of someone who's developing a game and therefore wants an audience of gamers so that their game will actually sell - kind of like promotion :)

[@me551]

The community is dying it's getting to a new era

[@HobokerDev]

Good! Most youtube gamedev is shallow pop garbage anyway.

[@bbb0965]

Never claim that something has died, because there will be a comeback of some form

[@theunityguy_yt]

hope so honestly

[@bob7644]

I don't think it's dying at all. There are still channels crushing it. Dani was simply the guy who made the most entertaining style, vs most dev's are promoting there games, or there journey. Either way, I see it growing, still. Gaming will always be huge on youtube, and there are more gamers every day. Dani, was able to target game devs, and gamers, and those who just enjoyed watching entertaining content into the mix. He also tied trends into his dev channel. Add that with the fact, covid era was the best to grow a channel almost ever, as everyone was inside, and gaming or watching KZbin.

[@Dailyfiver]

I'm currently working 40-50 hours a week, and attending classes after work, so making a youtube channel for my indie games isn't even in the cards for me at this point in time lol.

[@theunityguy_yt]

yea. I'm actually a student in school, and after doing class, homework, sports and clubs, I'm actually left with very little time to do youtube and develop my game. Very sad but not much we can do.

[@Dailyfiver]

@@theunityguy_yt well, I’ll subscribe and support you until I can start a channel of my own one day hahaha. Good luck man, I really hope you can achieve your goals with what you’ve been building 👌

[@SabeDoesThingsChannel]

I am trying to do better at game devlogs I think the reason why my videos aren't really that good is because I am very bad at editing probably because I never really done it. But I am getting better and also great video.

[@theunityguy_yt]

Dude, I went through the exact same journey. If you wanna watch like a couple seconds of my older videos, you'll realize how bad they were My biggest tips and learning how to edit using your software (watch a bunch of youtube tutorials) and learning how to write entertaining scripts for your videos - it's really just trial and error, and I'm still learning best of luck on your journey btw ^^

[@K3LP_STUDIØS]

I'm thinking about dev logs for my game, Snapped, hopefully i can save the dev logs and inspire people to do dev logs and make games.

[@thegreendude2086]

huh interesting, I watched like 2 sam hogan videos and brackeys when I firsttried gamedev but never heard of dani. I also dont consider Brakeys as the same genre or category since he focused alot oon tutorials. What really defines gamedev youtube for me is noclip. noclip makes independent documentaries about mostly how x was made. Even though I rrely watch them , they probably still have the biggest impact on me taking up gamedev and enjoying everything about it. Also great example how code does not matter for an interesting gamedev story.

[@Ironroc]

An interesting video for sure! We can look out recent successes like Sasquatch B and Bite Me games on their youtube journey though to see that consistent quality can go a long way towards success. Keep up the good work!

[@leezhieng]

Met a regional representative of a big VC firm 2 months ago. He told me most of the VC, including themselves have zero interest in funding game projects.

[@theunityguy_yt]

Damn - it's a tough market for devs right now

[@bewtonix5135]

Dani hasn’t left completely he is still active with social media and will maybe come back

[@theunityguy_yt]

yea, I've seen that he does post a little on things like discord and twitter - hoping for his return ;D

[@indianastilts]

It's not dying?

[@dangerousbobstudioLLC]

I thought about Dev logging my game but the time I would spend on youtube videos I'd rather spend on the game.

[@theunityguy_yt]

yea. KZbin is pretty time consuming and can really slow your development

[@hobu5624]

(translated with google) In the Spanish-speaking community gamedev channels are booming, they are not close to dying.

[@theunityguy_yt]

wow that sounds awesome - i didn't really look at specific languages. This was more so an overall analysis - also definitely exaggerated the title ;D

[@Colyde25]

I’m not sure if videos not getting millions of views is equal to not being successful. I think success should be defined on community even if the community is small. I don’t see the dev logs or tutorials going any where. I definitely appreciate the newer development of the genre cause it was rough out here in early 2010s and there still is quadruple the content on YT then 10 years ago. Genre may be shifting at this time that is common on KZbin.

[@theunityguy_yt]

yea - there's definitely clarification needed for this video. I was talking from the perspective of devs who are promoting their game via devlogs on youtube. in that instance, targeting a larger demographic and getting lots of views is definitely important. On the other hand, you totally correct about youtubers that are trying to develop a strong community :D

[@RobLang]

Why does it matter? Why are you doing Gamedev KZbin? Is it to build a channel, build wishlists or something else? Work out what you're doing YT for and GameDev for, understand why the intersection is important to you and then optimise for that.

[@RadicalDreams]

I think we should make a community of indie studios youtubers. imagine if we are 1000 people that like and comment to every video you post!

[@theunityguy_yt]

lol that's a very interesting idea - like an army of indie devs reviving the industry ;D

[@mojaslatt]

The issue is most are very boring / not entertaining with their content. Saying this as a very casual viewer of dev vids when bored lol Seems like all devs wanna make the same recycled RPG or shooter type game. Id love to see devlogs for a story/choice based game

[@CloudlessStudio]

I tried making devlogs but they get way less views than my showcases and it’s very discouraging. It’s hard to make a game when no one seems to care for it.

[@theunityguy_yt]

Yea so true! Struggled with it for a long time, and I'm just starting to get some recognition on my channel :)

[@CloudlessStudio]

@@theunityguy_yt great content, I subbed!

[@MehmetSarkd]

It's bleeding but not dying at all. I think gamedev KZbin will become more popular soon.

[@theunityguy_yt]

hope so too honestly

[@_xtel]

Game dev here that’s never done KZbin, but have considered it. I wanted it to be personal progress development, not so much a show to watch. Don’t want to hurt the genre - maybe I’ll stay off.

[@theunityguy_yt]

honestly, there's no harm posting personal development updates on youtube. It doesn't really harm the genre and its actually how I started out. But, you may not be able to grow on youtube, and as long as that's not a priority for you, it's totally okay :D

[@FusiYT]

Really good video! It's sad that the biggest names have left but I am certain new names will rise at some point on KZbin. Also, how do you get the b-roll of YT like 3D? Like the first shot of the video. I have seen it for so long but never knew how to create it.

[@theunityguy_yt]

To get that effect, you screen record you scrolling on a website or something. Then, I take it into premiere pro, and use the basic 3D effect to rotate and turn the video so that it looks 3D. I'm not really sure how to do this outside of premiere pro, but I'm sure there are tutorials on youtube :)

[@FusiYT]

@@theunityguy_yt Ahhh ok thanks!

[@animationmann6612]

The Moment he mentioned Subscribe the Subscirbtion Bottom Glowed Rainbow Nani? 5:34 tested it on Pc

[@SnakeEngine]

Brackeys is learning Godot now. So don't worry, gamedev tube will be restored. :)

[@theunityguy_yt]

YAY - I saw his message about unity's bad decision for their new (now cancelled) pricing system and I hope he comes back in a different engine :D

[@kingtk5848]

I think the biggest problem is that most devlogs are for games that look boring or uninspired or just outright bad. You can basically bet money that the game will either be rogue-lite #592000, movement shooter #23495, or a 2D sidescroller. The games just don't really look that appealing or worth following and keeping up with. Just my honest take.

[@theunityguy_yt]

yea so true - innovation is really important if your developing in a industry with hundreds of other indie devs making similar games :D

[@Uhfgood]

Is "GameDev KZbin" game dev tutorials, or devlogs? Or both? I actually plan to vlog the progress of my game. I've figured out that making a successful (read selling) game is very difficult, because we have games coming out our ears. Free to play (freemium?), free games, classic AAA games, a lot of indie games, steam, GoG, etc, and even many game platforms (read epic or GoG or steam) often give away free games. I have so many games I couldn't ever hope to play them all. So I figured, if I ever wanted to make a living, I might as well become a vlogger, since this almost seems to be where the real money and/or success is. I've been studying this a little bit, the "entertainment" gamedev'ers vs just someone documenting their game development. The entertainment ones don't really seemed to be concerned with games for themselves, but just as a vehicle for their 'videotubing'.

[@theunityguy_yt]

I was looking more at devlogs and its not to say that you can't succeed in the industry, but simply the fact that I feel a lot of people could be finding more success based on factors I've outlined. The most successful form of devlogs is game creation meant purely for content rather than actually developing and releasing a successful game.

[@Uhfgood]

@@theunityguy_yt - I want to see if there's a happy medium in there somewhere, my game is an adventure game so you don't need to focus too hard on technical details. I also don't want to give mtv-style editing with tons of memes and dad-jokes either. So I'm going to have to figure this out. I've got some time though because it takes a while to actually make progress on your game, which is what I need if I'm going to show progress of my game. That being said my goal is to produce content BY making my game, if that makes sense? :-)

[@theunityguy_yt]

@@Uhfgood totally makes sense, and I'm trying to do the same with my own game! You're totally right in saying that it's a balance, as I also don't want to make videos full of memes and what not, but I also don't want to make boring technical videos. And by the way, best of luck with your videos. It's really just a matter of trial and error to find what works :D

[@jakehubyt]

GAME DEVS..... ASSEMBLE!!!!

[@TheAznKyubi]

sooo many of my subscribed channels are indie game-devs who just went ghost :(

[@theunityguy_yt]

yea, it's a very difficult niche and most developers just get burnt out 😥

[@YannAbdel]

Bro became sunnyv2 of gamedev

[@theunityguy_yt]

lol i guess 😂

[@SLAVKINGRED]

most likey due to unity making huge mistakes

[@theunityguy_yt]

lol yea. They really screwed up with their runtime fee in every way. At least they changed it tho.

[@SLAVKINGRED]

yep, could have been an even worse situation.@@theunityguy_yt

[@SkorpionYassine]

Well edited video :)

[@njs-tv6565]

Gamedev youtube goes in 2 ways, you either make meme content focused on being entertaining like Dani , or you make tutorials like brackeys. most people sit inbetween. and this balance and your way to convey information in a digestible way really dictates how well your channel does, as another dev I do like the funny haha game made in 1 week video , but I also like the deep dives into the process of how someone actually did something , atleast if its something actually unique or hard to do. for example I was deeply interested in how Dani handled his netcode for his games but there doesnt exist a video going into it. but that content should probably be on a different channel entirely.

[@nerdmassa9086]

I knew the music was from melodysheep!!

[@theunityguy_yt]

yep I love it :D

[@laserpipes2869]

Your gonna revive it 💯💯💯💯💯💯

[@theunityguy_yt]

yes sir!

[@gamedevjoni]

I have done my share of bad devlogs 😂 No light without shadow

[@theunityguy_yt]

it's all a part of the process 😉

[@I3R0K3]

What's the game in the miniature of the video?

[@theunityguy_yt]

Like the thumbnail? Cuz that's a game I'm developing. If you're interested, I post updates about it on this channel :)

[@I3R0K3]

@@theunityguy_yt oh cool, thx for the advice :)

[@vogonp4287]

KZbin's algorithm and it's focus on quickly produced content with a constant upload schedule probably doesn't help.

[@theunityguy_yt]

Yea. In a lot of ways, it just makes releasing developments updates harder and more demotivating :(

[@alphamineron]

Technical Videos are definitely more welcome… people will flock to whatever ADHD short content they can find, but truly educational content is far more valuable unless your entire goal is to make money/fame… at which point there’s not greater “gamedev KZbin” community, just another lump of content creators in the ocean competing for attention

[@gamecoder77]

Its not About Dani or Brackeys. Leave them and make your content very good and attractive so, everyone enjoys. If someone left you have to opportunity.

[@theunityguy_yt]

true, i think my point was more along the line that every time someone like dani released a video, they introduced millions to the genre which will in turn grow your target audience for you. you're totally correct tho

[@gamecoder77]

@@theunityguy_yt maybe somewhere I am wrong saying sorry for that. But we should create good content

[@gbeebe]

You seem to have started a trend. Now every YouTubing Gamedev is making one of these "what happened to... " videos.

[@theunityguy_yt]

damn lol maybe! I noticed it as well with youtubers like thomas brush also releasing similar video ;D

[@animationmann6612]

Maybe The Godot Guy makes a Debut?

[@theunityguy_yt]

Lol maybe (after I finish the game I'm working on rn tho). Might even become the unreal guy ;D

[@ivensauro]

I disagree with the clickbait, because people are changing what they want to do, the lives continue, and not because the people that was big doesn't make content that we should say that the others are bad and is not doing they work, is more from being profitable making content on KZbin than because the bigs have gone

[@theunityguy_yt]

true, but the big players leaving was only 1 of the reasons I outlined in the video. There are many others. Also, every time a person like dani released a video, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people would be introduced to gamedev KZbin, which is obviously beneficial for all devs. My point also wasn't that devs today are worse than previous devs, rather, its that in order to remain relevant on KZbin all dev's alike would benefit from relating to gamers as well as devs. There are a lot of great devs out there, and I wasn't trying to claim that they aren't good. Thanks for your comment tho :D

[@ivensauro]

@@theunityguy_yt ok, so i misunderstand some things, here on this comment i really get this better, and this is truth

[@TroutVR]

So real

[@Thisisdcode]

2:48 ironic clip

[@teamldm]

i gotchu

[@__Rizzler__]

theres nothing we can do

[@theunityguy_yt]

very sad - part of it is just the reality of gamedev. I do hope that it does grow back though maybe through some innovation in the genre and whatnot . We'll see :D

[@animationmann6612]

Maybe a Video Analysis of Dani helps you .

[@theunityguy_yt]

yea probably

[@stocknear]

I dont understand the conclusion. Devlog is dead -> make better devlog videos? Do you think this is the core issue?

[@theunityguy_yt]

i was talking from the perspective of a devlog meant to promote a game in development youtube success is key - in order to succeed on youtube, need to have successful videos - in order to get successfull videos, you need watch time, ctr and retention - in order to get that you need good videos, thumbnails, scripts etc. just my thoughts

[@dijik123]

Will u change ur channel name

[@theunityguy_yt]

Maybe if I can come up with a better one to replace it.

[@dijik123]

@@theunityguy_yt I will try to make new game engine called unity an open source so u don't have to change it

[@savagecatdev]

@@theunityguy_yt dani 2

[@SkorpionYassine]

@@theunityguy_yt replace it with the theunityguy7266

[@creative.outlet]

This can simply be addressed by batching content. I don't mean it in the traditional sense of creating a few videos at once. I am referring to recording your progress in a planned way. Just as your game development has tasks and a structure, so does your content.😏 And after 2-3 videos you can start editing and publishing them. One video a week. This will give you a head start. More content is more of a head start. 😎 It's easier to apply if you've just started out. For those already active, have a bank of video ideas that are easy to produce and talk about in the same niche. And use this bank insead of pressuring yourself for a half baked dev log video when you're not ready.🤩 Edit: determine ahead of time how often you publish a video. Consistency isn't about being there once a week but being there for a long time. Don't worry if it's just once a month.

[@theunityguy_yt]

I actually started doing this like a month ago - it's awesome :D

[@TheFresherFoot]

Shooters are boring so is indie art games, Create something challenging in 1st or 3rd person, npc but multiplayer too

[@theunityguy_yt]

interesting - fps shooters is definitley a saturated market (I'm making one rn as well 😅) but I'll have to find a way to differentiate myself - we'll see

[@mageguest]

GameDEVS are only dying in the US, in at least spanish channels more and more gamedev youtubers rise with a lot of suscribers

[@theunityguy_yt]

well that's good news ^^

[@mageguest]

@@theunityguy_yt sadly most of them are copys of Dani but in spanish

[@theunityguy_yt]

@@mageguestoh that sucks. I totally understand how dissapointing that is, and I wouldn't want the genre to grow into a bunch of dani clones i just hope that time will fix the niche

[@noiadev]

2:21 Oh hey, das me 🤣

[@theunityguy_yt]

the algorithm loves you 😂

[@koncreate8744]

I think this is just the market doing its magic. Good YT is a full-time commitment. Good game dev is a more than full-time if you're solo. Good devlog + good game are virtually impossible solo, but with funding and a team it's certainly possible.

[@newogame1]

You can only gamedev so much

[@theunityguy_yt]

yea 😭

[@vibesfx7947]

Avinash Arora

[@vxbez9139]

Josh gong

[@LokinLeeGaming]

I am here trying to save the world🧋 With my videos

[@robpetri5996]

The assumption here that you should be trying to be a youtube star with devlogs seems off. Why is it a problem that your technical devlog has only 1500 views? If the right people who enjoyed that content saw it then why does it matter? Is it perhaps because you are wanting to be a youtuber who's topic of choice is gamedev? Maybe i'm wrong but is that the same goal of most people creating devlogs for their game?

[@theunityguy_yt]

Most people start a devlog series to promote their game or develop an audience. Receiving less recognition on devlogs you've made can be extremely demotivating and can result in you giving up. If you don't make devlogs with a hope to blowup, that's fine, but it doesn't change the fact that it then results in gamedev youtube shrinking in size. While you're right that its okay to share your videos will a smaller audience, it does then result in the genre shrinking on youtube, which goes against the definition of success on the platform. this is specifically why I said gamedev KZbin was dying instead of gamedev. But alas, this is subject to different opinions and I can totally understand the opinion that devlogs shouldn't exist to find success on the platform.

[@harrysanders818]

What does this even remotely have to do with "The Industry"? It's just YT entertainment. I doubt that YT dev loggers and funny game dev video makers represent "the industry".

[@theunityguy_yt]

The Gamedev "KZbin" industry - i'm not talking about gamedev itself

[@agoogleuser2507]

No. Gamedev isn't dying. The Gamedev KZbinRS are dying. Don't be smart

[@theunityguy_yt]

I though it was clear in the title tho?

[@engame1702]

​@@theunityguy_ytyea this guy is a dumbass

[@agoogleuser2507]

@@theunityguy_yt KZbin and KZbinrs are not the same. There also also different definitions of dying.

[@calvinkohl6220]

Just make enternaining content and people will watch it...

[@theunityguy_yt]

Definitely have to work on that lol

[@NeoSmoove]

I like your last point. Gamedev aren't entertaining. There tutorials are usually 30min long trying to make us copy a game like floppy bird or angry bird. That's not fun. They're usually monotone and hard to understand. What we need to change about gamedev youtube 1. Make a video shorter maybe 5-8min humans have goldfish attention span 2. Don't tell us to make floppy bird or clone a game. 90% of people want to make their own game 3. Title each video what the feature is about instead of just floppy bird part 2. Sometimes we just need to watch a vid for a small part not the whole series. 4. Add some humor, skits, meme. 5. Edit vid to zoom in on certain parts of code or editor when it's important to highlight 6. Make a Playlist to organize video so we can just dig and find what we need help with asap. 7. Treat it lees like tutorial and more like exercise or lessons. Have a link for viewers to download a zip file where they can watch and follow along or have pop quiz, community quiz like code monkey, or in the comment section.

[@theunityguy_yt]

great points!

[@NeoSmoove]

​@theunityguy7265 are you making more tutorial?

[@theunityguy_yt]

@@NeoSmooveI started youtube making tutorials but I've moved on to making devlogs for my game and making fun videos like this one :D

[@NeoSmoove]

@theunityguy7265 tbh with the arrival of shorts and tiktok, shorts about learning unity is better than actual vids.

[@misterdot6923]

cool

[@ExpensivePizza]

I don't buy it. This is simply a supply and demand issue. The demand for Unity videos has likely dropped due to more devs moving to Unreal, Godot, etc. And on the supply side, there's only so many videos you can make about a particular topic before the market is saturated. If everyone leaves, that creates a hole in a market and it'll be filled by someone else. That's just how markets work.

[@theunityguy_yt]

Demand for unity videos isn't what previously drove gamedev youtube. It isn't a question of whether or not devs were interested in a certain engine or not. Rather, the success of gamedev youtube heavily relied on gamers being interested in the industry, especially considering they make up a vast majority of users on youtube. The conclusion of my analysis, is that to find success in gamedev youtube, devs need to decrease the technicality and engine-centered devlogs and create videos that devs and gamers can enjoy, greatly enlarging their target market and potential growth. Hope that helps :D

[@ExpensivePizza]

@@theunityguy_yt I understand where you're coming from but I think what you're describing is a different kind of audience. There's definitely an audience of game developers that like watching technical, engine-centered devlogs and tutorials. There's also no doubt an audience of gamers and I'm sure some portion of them are interested in watching game developers make games. But if you draw a Venn diagram of gamers and game developers the audience you're actually targeting intersection of the two circles, not the entire set. Rather than enlarging your target market, there's a risk you might actually be shrinking it. Don't get me wrong, I applaud you for trying something different. Finding a niche is often a good way to stand out from the crowd and there's a chance you'll find a large audience of people craving that type of content. I just don't think every game dev KZbinr should go down the same route. EDIT: Actually... I just took a look at the Dani channel and I'll admit I might've underestimated the size of the market for those types of videos. My point still stands but I think the size of the gamers circle is just so massive that even in that intersection there's a very large audience. Best of luck with the pivot. I honestly hope you find success!

[@theunityguy_yt]

@@ExpensivePizzagreat point! i definitely think my video was more focused on devlogs, which are generally used as a way to promote your game to gamers so that you can eventually sell a successful game. If gamers aren't your target market, and you're making devlogs, then you'll find yourself not being as successful as you could've. Thanks :D

[@zbyszggo4626]

I make some games and it's little frustrating that i make one mechanic for one week then i see video that someone make game in 7 days. I stopped watching those videos because getting depressed and crush my motivation

[@theunityguy_yt]

interesting perspective it can be totally demotivating to put time and passion into a project that other developers could replicate in a few days

[@zbyszggo4626]

@@theunityguy_yt Kinda yes. That was at the begining, now i'm a little better and experienced so it's not so hard. I realised that they make small prototype games. My friends watched videos like that and tried gamedev. It was shocking for them that making prototype is easy but making entire full game is hard

[@mrchung]

If you change up your thumbnails and make them more interesting, I think you could get more clicks.

[@theunityguy_yt]

i should definitely give it a try. I did try to change it up in my newest video though :D